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SENATE.. ..No. 51. 



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In Senate, March 24, 1851. 'i^swcrM 

The Joint Special Committee, to which was referred so much 
of the Governor's Address as relates to the subject of Slavery, 
and to which was also referred numerous petitions from the 
inhabitants of the State, praying the Legislature to instruct ^ 

their Senators and to request the Representatives in Congress 
to use their endeavors to procure a repeal of the " Fugitive 
Slave Law; " and also numerous other petitions praying the 
Legislature to provide further safe-guards to protect the citi- 
zens in the enjoyment of their natural rights, submit the fol- 
lowing 

REPORT. 

In his inaugural address, the Governor remarks that, "in 
ordinary times " we " should *omit the discussion of topics which 
are national in their character; but the excitement which has 
sprung from the institution of slavery, and the examination of 
questions connected with it, seem to justify some deviation from 
this general policy." After alluding to the fact, that where 
slavery "exists it is regarded as a benefit, where it does not 
exist it is regarded as an evil; " that "one portion of the coun- 
try has a pecuniary interest in its existence, equal to many 
hundred millions of dollars," and that "the other regards it as 
a moral, political, social and industrial evil, which dishonors 
labor and degrades the laborer within the sphere of its influ- 



2 SLAVERY. [March, 

ence," his Excellency proceeds to say, " It may not then be 
inappropriate to consider how far the institution of slavery is a 
genera] subject of legislation, and therefore of general poHtical 
interest, and how far its existence and responsibility are local, 
and the subjects of local legislation only." 

Again, his Excellency remarks, "A remedy for its injustice ox 
inexpediency must be sought in the legislative department of 
the government." And yet again. " The provision of the Con- 
stitution on which this law [the act of September 18, 1850,] is 
based, can never be properly construed, either by Congress or 
the courts, to endanger the liberties of free citizens." The 
committee are not quite sure that they understand the full im- 
port of the sentence last quoted, but taken in connection with 
a declaration on the same page, to wit, "I cannot advise 
the passage of any measure calculated to increase the excite- 
ment which unhappily exists, even though that excitement have 
710 just foundations^'' we are led to the conclusion that his 
Excellency does not participate in any fear that the acts of 
Congress involve any consequences dangerous to the freedom 
of the people. 

But the committee have no desire to go into a critical exami- 
nation of the propositions, inferences or suggestions, contained 
in that part of the address committed to them for consideration. 
They prefer to examine the subject of slavery in the abstract, 
and make such an application of their conclusions as they deem 
pertinent and undeniable. They have endeavored to embody 
their views in as small a compass as seemed to be consistent 
with the magnitude of a subject which agitates the whole Com- 
monv/ealth; and though they cannot indulge an expectation 
that all their remarks and suggestions will meet an unanimous 
response from the Legislature, they yet feel a cheerful confi- 
dence in the belief that they will receive credit for uprightness 
of purpose, and an honest intention to perform, to the best of 
their ability, a duty, the execution of which they would wil- 
lingly have declined. 

All men owe absolute allegiance to the law of God, which 

is, in its nature, a universal rule of conduct for mankind, laid 

down by Him. It belongs to the nature of man and the nature 

■ of God, and derives its sanction and validity therefrom. It is, 



'■^^ 



1851. j SENATE— No. 51. '3 

accordingly, the higher late, and so the standard of all other 
laws. Its design is to promote the welfare of all mankind in 
general, and of each man in particular. 

Human law is, in its nature, a special rule of conduct for 
the people by whom it is enacted, and derives its origin and 
acquires its sanction solely from the consent of that people who 
are to be governed thereby. The just design of human law is, 
in general, to promote the welfare of the nation for which it is 
made, the welfare of all and also of each. Its design, there- 
fore is, in special, two fold, namely, its first and primary design 
is to protect the person in all his natural rights, with all that 
pertains to those rights ; the next and secondary design is, to 
protect his property with all that rightly pertains thereto. 
These two objects comprise all the functions of human law ; 
for the protection of the substance of manhood and the attri- 
butes thereof, of person and property, necessarily involves the 
protection of the right to develop both. 

In regard to the law of God, things may be distributed into 
three classes, namely: — first, such as are absolutely right; 
second, such as are absolutely wrong; and third, such as are 
neither absolutely right nor absolutely wrong, but morally in- 
different. It is moral to do the first, immoral to do the second; 
to do the third is neither directly moral nor immoral, but only 
expedient or inexpedient. 

It is plain that human law cannot alter the natural relations 
of things, nor make right wrong, or wrong right, or things in- 
difterent either right or wrong. Laws, therefore, are only 
declaratory of the intentions of the law makers, who therein 
lay down a practical rule of conduct, but can no more alter 
right and wrong than the mariner can alter the position of the 
stars by which he steers his vessel. Of course, then, as it is 
the natural duty of man to do the right and avoid the wrong, 
it is plain that human law is, morally^ valid and obligatory only 
so far as it declares the right to be the rule of conduct, and is, 
morally, invalid and of no obligation, just so far as it declares 
the wrong to be the rule of conduct. Otherwise, allegiance to 
the state would transcend allegiance to God, and the statutes 
of men be superior to the eternal law of the infinite God, — a 
proposition, which is absurd in its substance, and impious in its 
form. But if the human statute represents the right, then it is. 



4 SLAVERY. [March, 

so far identical with the natural law of God, and is accordingly, 
valid and obligatory. Thus human laws derive all their moral 
validity and obligation from their conformity to the natural 
law of God; so natural right or justice, is, and ought to be, the 
ultimate standard-measure of all human laws in general, and to 
that standard all human laws are amenable. 

The Constitution of the United States is, in its jiature, a par- 
ticular rule of conduct, to be observed in the governing of the 
people by their officers, legislative, judiciary and executive; 
accordingly, it is a conventional and secondary standard-mea- 
sure of the laws made by the people. Accordingly, as it is a 
moral duty that all human laws be made conformable to the 
rigiit, — else they are morally invalid and void by nature, — so it 
is a constitutional obligation to make the laws of the United 
States conformable to the Constitution, otherwise they are con- 
stitutionally invalid and void by agreement. Laws of the 
United States are therefore amenable to the Constitution. 

The design of the Constitution is thus declared by the people 
of the United States in the preamble to that document, namely : 
" To form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domes- 
tic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the 
general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves 
and our posterity." 

These words, which thus state the design, seem to be the 
constitutional standard-measure of all other provisions of the 
Constitution itself; for the end aimed at is one thing, the means 
to obtain that end another. This design is identical with that 
of the law of God and of all just human law, only some of the 
particulars which belong to human welfare are distinctly speci- 
fied in the preamble. 

The Constitution then proceeds to lay down certain particular 
rules of conduct for the nation in organizing its ideas into insti- 
tutions, and for administering those institutions. Some of these 
provisions or particular rules conform to the law of God, and 
to the general design of human laws and the special design of 
the Constitution. Some are inconsistent with all these. Your 
committee respectfully set forth that they are decided in their 
conviction, that the institution of slavery, as it existed in the 
confederated colonies at the adoption of the Constitution, and 
has ever since unhappily continued to survive, is utterly incon- 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 5 

sistent with the natural law of God, with the general design of 
all just human laws, and with the special design of the Consti- 
tution as set forth in the preamble thereto, as it is notorious 
that this institution is, and has ever been, inconsistent with the 
express words of the Declaration of Independence. But though 
the committee have no hesitation in declaring their conviction 
that the provisions in the Constitution, sustaining slavery, di- 
rectly conflict with the natural duty which men owe to their 
fellow men, and with the natural allegiance which all men 
owe to the Divine law, yet they do not forget their obligations 
to the Constitution, and their allegiance to their country and 
the government which it has established. If these provisions 
sustaining slavery be complied with, and the compliance bs 
enforced by penal laws, it should be distinctly stated that the 
compliance is rendered, not because it is morally rights but be- 
cause it is technically legal] nay, technically legal while it was 
absolutely wrong, and contrary to the avowed design of the 
Constitution as set forth in the preamble. And though the 
citizen may, by the conventional rules of society, be excused 
for obedience to unjust laws ; though individuals may believe it 
patriotic to assist in carrying into effect such laws, yet those who 
enact them and enforce a compliance by penalties from which 
no citizen who violates them can hope to escape, and those also 
who volunteer in the execution of them, will hardly be acquit- 
ted before that Tribunal, which ultimately deals out retribution 
according to the law which every intelligent man feels to be 
divine, irrevocable and eternal. 

In obedience to what the committee supposed to be expected 
or demanded of them, by the order referring to their considera- 
tion so much of the Governor's Address as relates to slavery, 
they could do no less than state these general conclusions; but 
of that matter they have nothing further to say, and so they 
betake themselves to the consideration of some particular pro- 
visions of the Constitution. 

The Constitution provides, 

I. That " the right of the people to be secure in their per- 
sons, houses, papers and effects, against unreasonable searches 
and seizures, shall not be violated." [Amendments^ Art. iv.] 

II. That " the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall 



6 SLAVERY. [March, 

not bo suspended, unless, when, in cases of rebellion or inva- 
sion, the public safety may require it. [Art i. § 9, H 2.] 

III. 1. " The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeach- 
ment, shall be by jury." [Ari. iii. <§> 2, If 3.] 

2. " In suits at common law, when the value in controversy 
shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be 
preserved." [Amendmejits^ Art. vii.] 

3. "No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, 
without due process of law." {Amendments^ Art. v.] 

IV. " The judicial power of the United States shall be vested 
in one supreme court, and in such inferior courts as the Con- 
gress may, from time to time, ordain and establish. The judges 
both of the superior and inferior courts, shall hold their offices 
during good behaviour, and shall, at stated times, receive for 
their services a compensation which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office." \Art. iii. § 1.] 

Your committee will now examine the Fugitive Slave Law, 
trying it by the several standards above referred to, both gen- 
eral and special. 

The Fugitive Slave Law is, in its nature, a special rule of 
conduct, to be followed in reducing to slavery certain persons 
alleged to have fled from it, and for punishing such as aid them, 
in their escape. Its design is, primarily, to reduce men to slave- 
ry; that is, to remove them from the condition of men to the 
condition of mere chattels; and, secondarily, to punish all 
such as aid them to remain in the condition of men, and hinder 
them from being forced into the condition of mere chattels. 

Your committee cannot resist the conclusion that this law, in 
its nature and its design, is, in general, plainly hostile to the 
law of God, and to the design of all just human law. We 
regard the Fugitive Slave Law, therefore, as morally, — not le- 
gally, but morally, — invalid and void ; and though binding on 
the conduct, no more binding on the conscience of any man than 
a law would be, which should command the people to enslave 
all the tall men or all the short men, and deliver them up on 
claims, to be held in bondage forever ; for the committee can 
see no moral difference between enslaving a white man and a 
black one, or a fugitive and one always free. 

But this law is also plainly at variance with the design of 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 7 

the Conslitnfion, as set forth in its own language before quoted. 
To us the whole statute appears unconstitutional, not merely 
technically and in its details, but imconstitiilional universally 
and in tiie highest degree, as tending to defeat the purposes of 
the Constitution itself On this point, however, wc will not 
dwell. 

But the committee regard the Fugitive Slave Law not only as 
unconstitutional m general^ and with regard to its design, but 
specially, as compared with some of the provisions of the Con- 
stitution itself 

I. It subjects the people to " unreasonable searches and seiz- 
ures," and thus violates their " right to be secure in their per- 
sons ;" for any man muy be arrested on the affidavit of any 
other man swearing that he is a slave, and be sent into bondage 
by the act of a single commissioner. We have already seen 
free men thus seized and hurried off to slavery. 

II. It annuls and makes useless " the privilege of the writ of 
habeas corpus.^'' We learn from the opinion of the attorney 
general that it does not do this in form, but it does it, sub- 
stantially, and ill fact. 

III. It takes away " the right of the trial by jury" from the 
alleged fugitive, and that in a matter of the greatest import- 
ance, thus depriving him of liberty, which is of more value 
than property or life, " without due process of law." The 
fugitive is not tried for his liberty " by his peers or the law of 
the land," but before a single commissioner, who does not, like 
the jury, represent the "country," the people with their human 
sympathy towards men and their personal duty towards God ; 
but who is a mere official agent of government, representing 
only the will of the men in power, whose creature he is, and at 
whose caprice he may be removed. 

Then, too, as if this were not enough, the trial must be con- 
ducted in " a summary manner." [Fugitive Slave Law, § 6.] 
The committee will not undertake to point out what a "sum- 
mary manner " is, but they submit that it is not "due process 
of law;" for, without repeating what they have before said, 
the trial of an issue so important is not necessarily a public 
one, but the commissioner may try the alleged fugitive in the 
cellar of his house and at midnight, allowing the miserable 
man no counsel to aid him, and with no witness but the slave 



8 SLAVERY. [March, 

hunter and the officials and creatures of government. Even 
this is not all. For 

IV. The commissioner is not a man vested by the Constitu- 
tion, as cited above [Art. iii. ^1,] with " the judicial power of 
the United States ;" he is not a "judge," holding office "dur- 
ing good behavior," but only a commissioner, removable at the 
pleasure of the men who appointed him. Nor is this all; but 
the law, not content with subjecting the alleged fugitive to 
" unreasonable seizure," with depriving him, substantially, of 
the benefit of " the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus,''^ with- 
holding "the right of trial by jury," by "due process of law," 
and before the "judicial power of the United States," goes 
further, and offers a bribe to the commissioner to decide against 
liberty and in favor of bondage. The act gives to the commis- 
sioner an incitement to decide against his victims, by offi^ring 
him a "fee of ten dollars" if he enslaves his victim, and only 
" a fee of five dollars," if he decides the other way! To the 
committee this provision appears atrocious ; it holds out a pre- 
mium for legal wickedness. We are amazed that any one 
should deem it constitutional. It would be a parallel in legisla- 
tion to provide that, in capital trials the judges should have 
a hundred dollars a piece for each man they should hang, and 
only fifty, when the man should be acquitted, and that the jury 
should also be paid twice as much for the men they found 
guilty as for those they found not guilty. 

These are the chief constitutional objections, which the com- 
mittee bring against the law ; but beside these, we think it 
needlessly severe in other particulars against the alleged fugi- 
tive, and such as allow him the smallest shelter. It provides 
that if any one " shall aid, abet, or assist such a person so owing 
service or labor as aforesaid, directly or indirectly, to escape 
from such claimant," "he shall, for either of said offiinces, be 
subject to a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, and impris- 
onment not exceeding six months," and " shall moreover forfeit 
and pay, by way of civil damages," " the sum of one thousand 
dollars for each fugitive so lost." [Sec. 7.] We are astonished 
at such penalties denounced against an act of mercy, which 
common humanity prompts, and religion commands. 

But leaving these and all the previous objections to this law, 
the committee are of the opinion that Congress has no constitu- 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 9 

tional power to legislate on this matter. The power of Con- 
gress to make this law, and the previous act of 1793, is claimed 
under the following provision of the Constitution : — " No per- 
son held to service or labor in one state under the laws thereof, 
escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or reg- 
ulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but 
shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such ser- 
vice or labor is due." [Arf. iv. ^ 2, H 3.] We will refer to but 
a single ambiguity; — by whom shall he "be delivered up ?" 
It must be, first, by the ;9eo7>»/e acting jointly or severally; or 
secondly, by the slale to which he has escaped ; or, thirdly, by 
the federal government. The Supreme Court has decided in fa- 
vor of the federal government; but the committee think that 
this function of delivering up constitutionally belongs to the in- 
dividual states to which the fugitive may have escaped. The 
committee are happy to have on their side the opinion of so 
celebrated an " Expounder of the Constitution," as Mr. Web- 
ster, who says, in his speech of March 7, 1850, — "I always 
thought that the Constitution addressed itself to the legislatures 
of the states, or to the states themselves." "It seems to me 
that the import of the passage is, that the state itself shall cause 
him [the fugitive] to be delivered up." 

The committee find the same opinion, in a report made by 
the committee on the Judiciary of the House of Representatives 
of Massachusetts, in 1837, which says,— "That no general au- 
thority upon the subject of slavery, or upon a subject which 
shall draw this after it as an incident, is any where given to 
the general government." [House document^ 1837, No. 51, 
p. 15, &c.] 

Considering this law as unjust in its nature, wrong in its 
principle, hostile to the designs of all just human laws, deem- 
ing it in the highest degree unconstitutional, in general and in 
detail, we do not hesitate to declare that we consider it an in- 
famous and wicked statute, a law not fit to be made and not 
fit to be kept. It is a disgrace to the age we live in, a reproach 
to the nation which glories in the name of democracy, and a 
foul shame to the people that profess a religion, whose great 
practical rule of conduct is, "to do unto others as we wish 
them to do to us." Your committee lack time, as well as lan- 
2 



10 SLAVERY. [March, 

guage, to express the abhorrence and loathing which they feel 
for this law. Yet it is a law of the land not officially declared 
unconstitutional. Unconstitutional, as we believe it, inhuman 
and wicked, as it unquestionably is, it is still a law, and for- 
cible resistance to it is a legal misdemeanor. Its results are 
most disastrous. The innocent citizens, who have fled from 
bondage, and found a home and reared families among us, are 
forced to flee, and to seek in a monarchy an asylum from the 
injustice and cruelty of a republic ! They flee for liberty from 
America to England ! A queen's diadem protects Christian 
men from the slave-driver's whip, tender women from a mas- 
ter's lust, and new-born babes from his thirst for gold. The 
slave-hunter profanes the soil of Massachusetts, seeking whom 
he may devour. His presence spreads terror among the col- 
ored people of our state. He is a hawk among doves, — a wolf, 
a hyena, among lambs. It is with deep mortification your com- 
mittee confess that persons are found in this city, who consent 
to sell their professional services to the base purpose of enslav- 
ing men ; — that among them are found persons whom this 
Commonwealth has honored with the commission of justice of 
the peace, men who trample under foot our own constitution, 
in their eflbrts to enforce this wicked law. We confess we 
deem it no less a crime against nature and humanity to enslave 
a fugitive than to steal a free man. To our judgment, the ille- 
gal kidnapper on the coast of Africa, and the leg-al man-hunter 
in Boston, belong to the same class of felons. They differ, 
however, specifically, and we think the native species far worse 
than the foreign felon, whom all Christian governments, and 
our own among the number, have denounced as a pirate. We 
say this advisedly. We have studied the action, have analyzed 
its motives, and have examined its excuse. But while we 
gladly fold the mantle of charity over the shame of men, whom 
poverty and ignorance conduct to crime, we can find no pallia- 
tion for the hideous spectacle of citizens of Massachusetts, and 
even officers in her service, in the very city of the Pilgrims, 
seeking to enslave a man. Let us turn off" our eyes from a 
spectacle so ghastly and disgraceful. 

The committee deem it proper to recall to the memory of the 
Legislature, some of the resolves that have been passed by our 
predecessors. 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 11 

On the 8th of April, 1839, the Legislature passed a resolve, 
declaring " that it is a paramount duty of Massachusetts to pro- 
tect her citizens in the enjoyment and exercise of all the rights 
to which, by virtue of their citizenship they are entitled." 

On the 23d of March, 1840, a preamble, setting forth the moral 
and social as well as the political, and national evils of slavery 
in the District of Columbia, and of the slave-trade between the 
several states, and the following resolutions, were adopted : — 

Resolved, That Congress ought to exercise its acknowledged 
power in the immediate suppression of slavery and the slave 
trade in the District of Columbia. And whereas by the Consti- 
tution of the United States, Congress has the power to regulate 
commerce with foreign nations, and between the several states 
of the Union. And whereas a domestic slave-trade, as unjustifi- 
able in principle as the African slave trade, and scarcely less 
cruel and inhuman in practice, is now carried on between the 
several states, — therefore 

Resolved, That the domestic slave trade between the several 
states ought to be abolished by Congress, without delay. 

Resolved, That no new state ought to be admitted into the 
Union, whose constitution shall tolerate domestic slavery. 

February 27, 1847. Resolved, unanimously. That the Legis- 
lature of Massachusetts views the existence of human slavery 
within the limits of the United States as a great calamity, an 
immense moral and political evil, which ought to be abolished 
as soon as that end can be properly and constitutionally at- 
tained, and that its extension should be uniformly and earnestly 
opposed by all good and patriotic men throughout the Union. 

February 27, 1849. Resolved, That slavery ought not to 
exist in the District of Columbia, and that it is the duty of Con- 
gress, to devise the most just, practicable and expeditious mode 
for abolishing the same. 

On the first day of May, 1850, it was 

Resolved, We hold it to be the duty of that body [Congress] 
to pass such laws in regard thereto [the delivering up of fugi- 
tive slaves] as will be sustained by the public sentiment of the 
free states where such laws are to be enforced, and which shall 
especially secure to all persons whose surrender may be claimed 
as having escaped from labor and service in other states, the 
right of having the validity of such claim, determined by a 
jury, in the state where such claim is made. 

Resolved, That the people of Massachusetts, in the mainten- 
ance of these their well known and invariable principles, expect 



12 SLAVERY. [March, 

that their officers and representatives Avill adhere to them at all 
times, on all occasions, and under all circumstances. 

The committee have made careful inquiries as to what reme- 
dies for the present evils are in the power of the Legislature of 
Massachusetts and what means we have for protecting the 
rights of our citizens against invasion, by persons acting under 
the authority of the Fugitive Slave Law. In 1842, the Supreme 
Court of the United States, in the " Prigg case," declared that 
" Every state is perfectly competent, and has the exclusive 
right to prescribe the remedies in its own judicial tribunals, to 
limit the time as well as the mode of redress, and to deny juris- 
diction over cases, which its own policy and its own institutions 
either prohibit or discountenance." And again, the court in 
the same case, say ; " the states cannot be compelled to enforce 
them [the provisions for the surrender of fugitives from labor ;J 
and it might well be deemed an unconstitutional exercise of the 
power of interpretation, to insist that the states are bound to 
provide means to carry into effect the duties of the national 
government, nowhere delegated or intrusted to them by the 
constitution." And again, the court say, alluding to the pow- 
ers in the act of 1793, conferred upon state magistrates, — "As 
to the authority conferred upon state magistrates, while a dif- 
ference of opinion has existed, and may exist still on the point 
in different states, whether state magistrates are bound to act 
under it; none is entertained by this court, that state magis- 
trates may, if they choose, exercise that authority UNLESS 
PROHIBITED BY STATE LEGISLATION." (Prigg, 
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 16 Peters, R. 614, 615, 622.) 

This decision not only frees the individual states from all ac- 
tion in the matter; but expressly recognizes the power of the 
states to prohibit all action by its officers under the acts of Con- 
gress. Accordingly, Massachusetts, soon after, in 1843, enacted 
the statute well known as the " Latimer law," and made it 
penal for any of her officers to aid in the capture or detention 
of any person claimed as a fugitive slave. The use of our 
jails for the detention of such fugitives, was also forbidden un- 
der severe penalties. But as that statute requires some slight 
■modification, and as further legislation seems also desirable to 
.meet the present emergency ; and as the institution of slavery 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 13 

is recommended as an appropriate subject for the consideration 
of the Legislature, by His Excellency the Governor, the com- 
mittee recommend the enactment of the accompanying Bill, and 
the passage of the subjoined Preamble and Resolves. 

For the Committee, 

JOS. T. BUCKINGHAM, Chairman. 



14 SLAVERY. [March, 



^ominontoealtii of M^^^^f^nutttn. 



In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty-One. 



RESOLVES 

Concerning Slavery. 



Resolved, That Massachusetts affirms anew her hostility to 
slavery and her devotion to the Union ; that, inspired by these 
cherished sentiments, she longs for harmony among the differ- 
ent parts of our common country ; but she cannot conceal the 
conviction that this can be finally and permanently secured 
only by the overthrow of slavery, so far as the same can be 
constitutionally done, everywhere within the jurisdiction of the 
national government ; that the free states may be relieved from 
all responsibility therefor, so that freedom, instead of slavery, 
shall become national, and slavery, instead of freedom, become 
sectional. 

Resolved, That Massachusetts protests against the Fugitive 
Slave Law as alien to the spirit of the Constitution, destructive 
of rights secured by that instrument, hostile to the sentiments 
of Christianity, and abhorrent to the feelings of the people of 
this Commonwealth; that such a law will naturally fail to 
secure that support in the heart and conscience of the commu- 
nity, without which, any law must sooner or later, become a 
dead letter. 

Resolved, That his excellency the Governor be requested to 
transmit a copy of these resolves to each of our senators and 
representatives in Congress, to be by them laid before their 
respective houses. 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 15 



eomtnonljpealUj oC M^^fi^t^xit^ttin. 



In the Year One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty- 
One. 



AN ACT 

In addition to "An Act further to protect Personal 

Liberty." 

BJEJ it enacted hy the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives^ in General Court assembled, and hy the authority of 
the same, as follows : 

1 Sect. 1 . All the provisions of the " Act further 

2 to protect personal liberty," passed the twenty-fourth 

3 day of March, in the year one thousand eight hun- 

4 dred and forty-three, shall apply to the act of Con- 

5 gress, approved September eighteenth, in the year one 

6 thousand eight hundred and fifty, entitled, " An act 

7 to amend and supplementary to the act entitled an act 

8 respecting fugitives from justice, and persons escaping 

9 from the service of their masters." 

1 Sect. 2. Any officer, or other member of the vol- 

2 unteer militia of the Commonwealth, who shall act 

3 in his capacity as such officer or member, or under 

4 color thereof, at the command or requisition of the 



U SLAVERY. [March, 

5 United States marshal, or of any deputy or special 

6 marshal of the United States, under pretence of being 

7 part of the posse comitatus, in the arrest and detention 

8 of any person claimed as a slave, shall be liable to the 

9 same penalties provided by the act to which this is in 
10 addition. 

1 Sect. 3. Any corps of the volunteer militia of this 

2 Commonwealth, which, at such command or requisi- 

3 tion, under such pretence and for such purpose, shall 

4 act in its organized capacity as such corps, shall forth- 

5 with be disbanded ; and any officer of such corps join- 

6 ing in such action, shall be removed from his office, 

7 upon conviction thereof by a court martial. 

1 Sect. 4. It shall be the duty of the district attor- 

2 neys of the Commonwealth, within their respective 

3 district, whenever any inhabitant of the Common- 

4 wealth is arrested or claimed as a slave, on being in- 

5 formed thereof, diligently and faithfully to use all 

6 lawful means to protect, defend, and procure to be 

7 discharged, every such person so arrested or claimed: 

8 provided, the said services are not expressly declined 

9 by such person. 

1 Sect. 5. If any person shall remove from the 

2 limits of this Commonwealth, or shall assist in re- 

3 moving therefrom, or shall come into the Common- 

4 wealth with the intention of removing, or of assist- 

5 ing in the removing therefrom, or shall procure, or 

6 assist in procuring to be so removed, any person liv- 

7 ing in the peace thereof, who is not " held to ser- 

8 vice and labor," and who has not " escaped from 

9 ser-vice and labor," within the meaning of those words 

10 in the Constitution of the United States, on the pre- 

11 tence that such person is so held and has so escaped, 



1851.] SENATE— No. 51. 17 

12 he shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five thou- 

13 sand dollars, and by imprisonment in the State prison 

14 not more than ten years. 

1 Sect. 6. Any person injured or endangered by 

2 any proceeding punishable by the preceding section, 

3 may maintain an action therefor, in any court com- 

4 petent to try the same, 

1 Sect. 1. In every case, civil or criminal, arising 

2 under this act, the legal presumption shall be, that 

3 no person living within the peace of this Common- 

4 wealth "is held to service or labor, and has escaped 

5 therefrom within the meaning of those words in the 

6 Constitution of the United States, and it shall be 

7 incumbent on any party that relies upon such hold- 

8 ing and escape in his defence, to establish the same 

9 by evidence. 

1 Sect. 8. Whenever any person is arrested or im- 

2 prisoned on the ground of his being held to service 

3 or labor, the Supreme Court, or the Court of Com- 

4 mon Pleas, at any regular session, or any justice of 

5 either of said courts, or any justice of the peace, 

6 may, on the petition of the person so arrested or im- 

7 prisoned, or of any other person acting in his behalf, 

8 issue a writ of habeas corpus to take the body of the 

9 person so arrested or imprisoned in the manner and 

10 form provided in the one hundred and eleventh chap- 

11 ter of the Revised Statutes; and the writ, if issued 

12 by either of said courts, or any justice thereof, shall 

13 be made returnable before the court or justice issuing 

14 the same, or any other justice of the same court, at 

15 the discretion of the judge issuing the same; and if 

16 issued by any justice of the peace, shall be made 

17 returnable before the Supreme Judicial Court or the 

3 



18 SLAVERY. [March, 

18 Court of Common , Pleas, or any justice of either of 

19 said courts named in the writ, at the discretion of the 

20 justice issuing the same. And the writ may be re- 

21 turnable to any term of either of said courts not 

22 expired when the writ issues, or at the next succeed- 

23 ing term in any county. 

1 Sect. 9. In addition to the persons authorized 

2 by the said one hundred and eleventh chapter of the 

3 Revised Statutes to serve writs of habeas corpus, any 
i constable of any city or town may, in said city or 

5 town, serve any writ of habeas corpus issued under 

6 this act. 

1 Sect. 10. The whole of said one hundred and 

2 eleventh chapter shall apply to all proceedings under 

3 this act, unless they are inconsistent with any pro- 

4 visions of this act. 

1 Sect. 11. Whenever the person arrested or im- 

2 prisoned, on the ground of his being held to service 

3 or labor, shall not, on the hearing, be discharged by 

4 the judge or court before whom the writ is returned, 

5 he may claim a jury trial before the court of which 

6 the judge who heard the case is a member, on enter- 

7 ing into a recognizance with a sufficient surety, or 

8 sureties, before said judge or court, for his appear- 

9 ance at the said court, at the next term thereof in 

10 the same county, and prosecuting his appeal to final 

11 judgment. The penalty of such recognizance shall 

12 in no case exceed one thousand dollars. 

1 Sect. 12. The court to which the said appeal is 

2 made, shall direct a trial by jury of all questions in 

3 controversy, under the habeas corpus, between the 

4 person arrested or imprisoned and the claimant ; and 



19 
, SENATE-No. 51. 

. -u 11 hP final and conclusive, 

5 t^^e.orA^otoi..c^^^^yJ^f2TtLo.-. and the 

6 ..a i-'^^-i^S pay ^ the expenses of pstice 
T Commonwealth shaUP y ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ 

8 fees, serving the wnt ^^^^^^.^ ^^^^^ ^V,,,^ 

9 fees, summomng " ^^„„ „,t,i„i„g a wnt of 

10 may he incurred by any p 

11 habeas corpus under this act. 

. . V oil hVe effect from and alter 

1 Sect. 13. This act shall take enei- 

2 its passage. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



012 026 187 3 



